SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday
dismissed more than a dozen lawsuits that accused power companies
of double-billing the state of California millions of dollars
during the energy crisis.

In tossing out Attorney General Bill Lockyer's lawsuits against
Reliant Resources, Inc., Dynegy Inc. and other energy concerns, the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California courts
don't have jurisdiction over the issues at the heart of the
complaint. The decision upheld an earlier ruling by a lower
court.

The suits alleged the generators reaped millions by being paid
to hold power in emergency reserve that they then sold on the open
market. Lockyer argued the companies were paid $49 million between
1998-2000 to reserve electricity that was not delivered when
requested.

The alleged double-billing increased electricity prices by
forcing California's grid operators to buy power from those
companies on the expensive spot market instead of calling on their
reserve capacity when supplies became tight during the 2000-2001
energy crisis, Lockyer charged. The companies deny the charges.

The San Francisco-based appeals court's Tuesday action
reaffirmed a lower court that dismissed the same suits last year,
ruling that the state must state a claim before the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission instead of suing under a California business
fraud statute.

The court said FERC has exclusive jurisdiction over wholesale
electricity prices. California has already filed a request with the
federal commission for nearly $9 billion in refunds for excessive
power prices during the energy crisis in 2000 and 2001, but the
state's lawyers don't anticipate recovering the whole amount.

They tried to sue for double billing under California's unfair
business laws, believing they would fair better in state courts
than before FERC.

California and FERC have already settled claims with several
energy companies valued at about $2.4 billion.